Debate between physicist Frank J. Tipler and philosopher Claudio Bonvecchio. The Omega Point is a spiritual belief and a scientific speculation that everything in the universe is fated to spiral towards a final point of "divine" unification. Tipler has written books and papers on the Omega Point based on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's religious ideas, which he claims is a mechanism for the resurrection of the dead. Why the laws of physics — in particular, quantum mechanics, general relativity, and the Standard Model of particle physics — require the existence of a Cosmological “Singularity.” Mathematicians use the word “singularity” to refer to something that is intrinsically infinite, and which is thus not subject to the laws that imply their existence.

The laws of physics require the universe to begin in an initial singularity (sometimes called the Big Bang singularity) and also require the universe to end in a future singularity (sometimes called the Big Crunch singularity). Quantum gravity requires that these two singularities must be united by a third singularity, so that there is only one Cosmological Singularity. Why work on computers, particularly work in artificial intelligence and work in computer games, is essential to the creation of the final singularity. The laws of physics require a “singularity” in the computer sense: in the near future, human level AI’s must come into existence. Why the laws of physics will require AI’s in the far future to eliminate event horizons at all levels; a universe which has astrophysical black holes but no event horizons has a final singularity that is a single point in the Penrose singularity topology, an Omega Point.

Speakers:

**Frank J. Tipler** is a mathematical physicist and cosmologist, holding a joint appointment in the Departments of Mathematics and Physics at Tulane University. Tipler has written books and papers on the Omega Point based on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin's religious ideas, which he claims is a mechanism for the resurrection of the dead. He is also known for his theories on the Tipler cylinder time machine. Claudio Bonvecchio is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Insubria (Varese-Como). Among his writings: Il Cavaliere, la Morte e il Diavolo. Un percorso nella post-modernità (ScriptaWeb, Napoli 2010); L’eclisse della sovranità (Mimesis, Milano 2010); La Magia e il Sacro – Saggi Inattuali (Mimesis, Milano 2010); La filosofia di Indiana Jones, a cura di C. Bonvecchio (Mimesis, Milano 2011); Eros come simbolo (Alboversorio, Milano 2011). He's Grand Orator of the Grand Orient of Italy (GOI), the main masonic organization in the country.***